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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Robinson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/12/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE

RESIDENT TUITION FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRANTS

SB 374

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

Indeterminate

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 374 amends Section 21-1-3 NMSA 1978 to provide resident tuition and fees at New

Mexico public colleges and universities to Mexican Citizens and Latin American Citizens who

are Fulbright scholars, or consejo nacional de ciencia y tecnologia scholars (Mexican National

Science Foundation), or who are from countries participating in the Organization of American

States Educational Portal (OASEP).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The proposed amendment would potentially decrease revenue due to its impact on tuition

payment at resident student rates, budget, and revenue calculations at state institutions and will

include Mexican or Latin American citizens who are participating in the OASEP, or who are

Fulbright or Mexican National Science Foundation scholars.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

SB374 is not on the list of priority projects recommended by the NMHED for FY08.

Senate Bill 374 – Page

2

HED indicates that Fulbright scholars, Mexican National Science Foundation scholars and

OASEP students apply to top rated American universities where in-state tuition is currently

offered. SB374 offers resident tuition rates at one of New Mexico’s (NM) four year institutions

for top international students. According to UNM’s VP of Academic Affairs, NM loses student

recruits to other top-rated universities because NM does not offer in-state tuition rates to these

highly sought after scholars.

Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of

educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and

teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception, more than 273,500

participants chosen for their leadership potential have had the opportunity to observe each

other’s political, economic and cultural institutions (Council of International Exchange of

Scholars website).

The Mexican National Science Foundation provides academic support for students studying the

hard sciences such as physics, computer science, chemistry, biology and geology.

OASEP (Portal) was launched in 1991 under the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and

Development (IACD). The main objectives of the Portal are to promote new educational

methods, such as distance learning, and to disseminate training opportunities of high academic

quality. The OASEP is an Internet site where all citizens of the Americas can quickly and easily

access information regarding the best distance educational opportunities available in the region.

The University of New Mexico (UNM) is currently offering 2 free non-credit courses to students

registered to use the Portal. The 2 free courses are Quality in Basic Education and Education in

Nutrition and are being taught by UNM professors. The OASEP program at UNM is still being

developed and is not up-and-running with credit courses for which tuition can be charged.

Therefore, tuition is not currently being charged to Mexican and Latin American students who

are taking the courses.

.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

HED states that this amendment would impact tuition payment at resident student rates, budget,

and revenue calculations at state institutions and will include Mexican or Latin America

n

citizens who are participating in the OASEP, or who are Fulbright or Mexican National Science

Foundation scholars.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The catalogs at UNM and NMSU provide the following stipulations for OASEP/IACD

applicants who wish to pursue a degree at the respective institutions:

OASEP/IACD scholarship applicants may apply to any graduate department at UNM,

except for the medical sciences, introductory language programs, and some professional

programs. UNM offers 36 masters programs and 36 doctoral programs and several

certificate programs. Applicants must also apply for an Amigo International Scholarship.

Deadlines and application procedures must be followed for successful admission to the

program.

Senate Bill 374 – Page

3

NMSU OASEP scholarship recipients may enroll in any program that NMSU offers as

long as they meet general admission requirements, departmental requirements (for

graduate students), and Alumni Scholarship requirements. Students must meet Alumni

Scholarship requirements and maintain those requirements in order to qualify for in-state

tuition rates.

NMSU offers 74 programs at the bachelors level, 51 at the masters level, and 24 at the doctoral

level. All degree programs are offered by the following colleges: Agriculture & Home

Economics, Business Administration & Economics, Education, Engineering, Arts & Sciences,

Health & Social Services ,as well as the Graduate School.

The OASEP announced recently that it is donating 1,500 scholarships to UNM to train teachers

in the State of New Mexico. The scholarships will be used for online courses offered through the

Educational Portal of the Americas (www.educoas.org) of the Institute of Advanced Studies of

the Americas.

GM/mt